In August 2026, crypto futures open interest dropped roughly $3 billion in minutes, triggering $308 million in forced liquidations. Most of these liquidations involved leveraged long positions automatically closed by exchanges when margin thresholds were breached. Total crypto futures open interest stood between $48 billion and $51 billion at the time of the drop, with Bitcoin futures alone accounting for around $24 billion. No single exchange or protocol was identified as the primary cause, as the event stemmed from the market functioning as designed, at a speed and scale that left little room to react.
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